When it comes to the female soccer players we don’t see in this year’s all-male tournament, the public attention tends to be nuanced for the better. There’s a
fair share of girl-fight recaps
, but at least the coverage of women’s collegiate soccer and FIFA matches give visibility to women engaging with the game beyond corporate or spousal ties. Internationally speaking, the female presence (or notable absence) on the field and in the stands gives the rest of the world a glimpse of larger battles beyond the stadium grounds. FIFA’s
ban on hijabs
, for example, still keeps the Muslim women on Iran’s team from participating in tournaments abroad. The fearless Iranian women’s team star Niloofar Ardalan
was not permitted to attend a men’s match
until 2005.

So, there’s quite a lot to be said about women in soccer that doesn’t have to do with
marketing stunts
or
prospective husbands
. Even the popular
Bend It Like Beckham
latched onto the empowering undercurrent of women’s soccer, using its fictional team of British teen girls as an obvious but well-intentioned personification of clashing cultural and generational values. I’m sure that a lot of those same women vying for Brit-boy affections can also remember when the world-champion U.S. women’s soccer team moved male and female fans alike back in 1999. Who can forget
Brandi Chastain’s shirtless on-field celebration
after scoring the World Cup-winning penalty shot? That
perfect storm
of girl power, patriotism, and
chiseled abs
invigorated us with a sense of monumentality, and, for a fleeting moment, put women’s athletics in the limelight. Unfortunately, most of the
skin-baring
at the 2010 tournament in South Africa isn’t quite so inspiring; we’ll see if next year’s Women’s World Cup has more to offer us.